Solution casting of chitosan membranes for in vitro evaluation of bioactivity.

Background: Considerable research is focusing on the surface modification of titanium implants for the treatment of orthopaedic tissue injuries to increase the success of orthopaedic fixations. Chitosan is one of the natural materials under investigation based on several favourable properties. Numerous techniques have been described for the preparation of chitosan membranes, including solution casting methods for the investigation of bioactivity before applying coatings onto potential titanium implants.

In vitro bioactivity of different degree of deacetylation chitosan, a potential coating material for titanium implants.

Clinical treatment of orthopaedic tissue injuries often involves the use of titanium and titanium alloys with considerable research focusing on the surface modification of these materials. Chitosan, the partly deacetylated form of chitin, is one of the materials under investigation as surface coating for orthopaedic implants in order to improve osteo-integration and cellular attachment. In this study, we determined the effects of the degree of deacetylation (DD) of chitosan membranes on attachment, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 mouse preosteoblasts.